differentialthought

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Americans at a hackathon in New York city. Image source: Flickr/CC/hackNY

by Aurelien Breeden and Krystle Wong

Can we approximate ICT power by looking at countries’ hacker prowess? We’re going to take a gander and say yes. The rising incidence of hacking worldwide is...

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The world is run by one million evil men, ten million stupid men, and a hundred million cowards. The evil men are the power - the rich men, and the politicians, and the fanatics of religion - whose decisions rule the world, and set it on its course of greed and destruction. There are only one million of them, the truly evil men, in the whole world. The very rich and the very powerful, whose decisions really count - they only number one million. The stupid men, who number ten million, are the soldiers and policemen who enforce the rule of the evil men. They are the standing armies of twelve key countries, and the police forces of those and twenty more. In total, there are only ten million of them with any real power or consequence. They are often brave, I'm sure, but they are stupid, too, because they give their lives for governments and causes that use their flesh and blood as mere chess pieces. Those governments always betray them or let them down or abandon them, in the long run. Nations neglect no men more shamefully than the heroes of their wars. And the hundred million cowards, they are the bureaucrats and paper shufflers and pen-pushers who permit the rule of the evil men, and look the other way. They are the head of this department, and the secretary of that committee, and the president of the other association. They are managers, and officials, and mayors, and officers of the court. They always defend themselves by saying that they are just following orders, or just doing their job, and it's nothing personal, and if they don't do it, someone else surely will. They are the hundred million cowards who know what is going on, but say nothing while they sign the paper that puts one man before a firing squad, or condemns one million men to the slower death of a famine.

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My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.

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by @adolfux for the SCMP.

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"Spy On Me, I Have Nothing To Hide"

In the wake of the second biggest leak (so to speak) in the history of the National Security Agency (NSA, or sometimes referred to as - No Such Agency for its gloomy and secretive past), I find the reactions of the majority of people to be shockingly out of place.

"Go ahead, spy on me, I have nothing to hide." Yeah. You've heard that one before, I'm sure. I tend to answer to such narrow way of thinking by asking whether I can come and watch you fuck your wife. You know, considering you have nothing to hide. What the majority of people obviously don't get, is that you always have something to hide - it doesn't really matter whether you're doing something wrong, your private life should not be intercepted, recorded and stored. What makes you believe that your country is in any way immune to tyrannic and oppressive government? To the next Mao? Stalin? Or Hitler? What makes you so sure, that one day - 3, 5 or 10 years from now, a more authoritarian regime won't go back to every telephone call ever made, every interaction exchanged and every thought googled and use this against you? I'd that say again - you don't have to do anything wrong, you just have to fall under a slight suspicion. With the rise of telecommunications and online interactions, do you really want everything you ever said to be recorded and stored? Forever? Let me just tell you this - if the Stasi had the technology that NSA has today, they'd still be in power.  

As always, there are two camps - Edward Snowden Is A Hero, and Edward Snowden Is A Traitor. My side?

  Edward Snowden Is An Idiot. And when I say "idiot" I refer to this sweet and naive idiocy of actually believing that people deserve to know the truth. They don't, because they have proven over time that truth has little to no value for them. People mostly value comfort, and the truth is never convenient. The slave-like behavior is still firmly attached to our genes - there's no need for chains anymore. We voluntarily submit to slavery, and voluntarily put in danger the very liberties we're (supposedly) attempting to protect. Like Benjamin Franklin once said:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." 

And yes, Edward Snowden is an idiot. He could've used his position to actually harm the U.S. - the citizens of which call him a traitor and a government that's going to destroy his otherwise young and prominent life. Unlike the Wikileaks-online-dump, Snowden didn't release any type of information that would do a lasting harm to the national security of his country. No algorithms used by the NSA, identities of U.S. agents abroad or individuals that the agency targets have been brought to light by this leak. What he did was to bring an important information concerning violations of civil liberties to the public and let THEM judge. He has given you the opportunity to hold those in power accountable for their actions - a rare power, that you would most likely loose in the upcoming years

I, on the other hand, would not blow the whistle in this current state of affairs. Yes, I wouldn't do it if my and the lives of million people depended on it. Why? Because I don't believe humanity (or whatever the hell you call this) has reached the necessary level of maturity. Not because I would fear prosecution - I believe that if whistle-blowing has taught us anything throughout the years is that if you expose the truth, you're fucked. Remember Mordechai Vanunu? I do (okay, I wasn't even born during that time, but I know the story). The Israeli nuclear technician who leaked classified details concerning Israel's nuclear weapons program in '86. He was abducted by Mossad agents, prosecuted in Israel and spent 18 years in fail, 11 of which in solitary confinement. Ever since his release (2004), he's been subjected to restrictions on his speech and movement. There isn't a whistleblower out there who didn't suffer the consequences for exposing the truth. But no amount of detention and imprisonment would possibly destroy someone, who's left everything behind, more than the lack of change. And that's exactly where we're heading. Vanunu's revelations didn't stop Israel from continuing their nuclear program. Nor will Snowden leak stop the West from becoming a vivid Orwell nightmare. Why? Because we didn't care. Enough.

Remember the phrase "Spy on me, I have nothing to hide." if/when the ancient Chinese curse of may you come to the attention of those in authority befalls on you.

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You know what bisexual people have? Choices.

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Least Favorite Word: Conservative

Mike: What is your least favorite word?

Me: Conservative. Pushing old and irrelevant to the present values and world views never seemed healthy to me. Always considered conservatism as the serial killer of innovation and progress. The very definition of the word implies "tending to oppose change". Change is good and most of all - change is inevitable, opposing it is the worst idea ever. Period.

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The longest and brightest solar eclipse of the 21st century! Next one is not expected until 2132.

Photo credit: Miloslav Druckmüller, Peter Aniol, Vojtech Rušin, Ĺubomír Klocok, Karel Martišek, Martin Dietzel

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Minimal Posters -  Five Great Mathematicians And Their Contributions.

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"The Egg" by Andy Weir

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

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More than winners, we need Humans

You have probably already seen this picture - it went viral on almost every possible social network out there. The photo captures a beautiful human moment - an elite Kenyan runner passes water to a dehydrated disabled Chinese runner who she saw suffering. This act of kindness delayed her from winning and she came 2nd in the race and lost the US$10,000 cash prize. 

I recently talked about the value of failure, but as I mentioned in the post, these differential thoughts on failing were provoked by a discussion with few buddies of mine, concerning people addicted to winning. 

And this picture, captures everything I ever wanted to say concerning this particular issue - while winning is not always worth it, kindness will never go obsolete.

In a world, where entrepreneurship, innovation, winning and intelligence are shaping our past, present and future and determining whether we are successful or not, there is little room left for compassion and kindness - these very basic qualities that define our humanity. Just think of a world, where compassion and kindness are not present - what a horrible and violent life would that be.

This Kenyan runner may have come 2nd place in a race of athletic accomplishments, but because she chose kindness and compassion, over winning and success, she will remain a winner in the race of being a real human being.

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Bioengineers Build Open Source Language for Programming Cells

Drew Endy wants to build a programming language for the body.

Endy is the co-director of the International Open Facility Advancing Biotechnology — BIOFAB, for short — where he’s part of a team that’s developing a language that will use genetic data to actually program biological cells. That may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but the project is already underway, and the team intends to open source the language, so that other scientists can use it and modify it and perfect it.

The effort is part of a sweeping movement to grab hold of our genetic data and directly improve the way our bodies behave — a process known as bioengineering. With the Supreme Court exploring whether genes can be patented, the bioengineering world is at crossroads, but scientists like Endy continue to push this technology forward.

Genes contain information that defines the way our cells function, and some parts of the genome express themselves in much the same way across different types of cells and organisms. This would allow Endy and his team to build a language scientists could use to carefully engineer gene expression – what they call “the layer between the genome and all the dynamic processes of life.”

According to Ziv Bar-Joseph, a computational biologist at Carnegie Mellon University, gene expression isn’t that different from the way computing systems talk to each other. You see the same behavior in system after system. “That’s also very common in computing,” he says. Indeed, since the ’60s, computers have been built to operate much like cells and other biologically systems. They’re self-contained operations with standard ways of trading information with each other.

‘In synthetic biology, the equivalent of a Java virtual machine might be that you could create your own compartment in any type of cell, so your engineered DNA wouldn’t run willy-nilly.’

— Drew Endy

The BIOFAB project is still in the early stages. Endy and the team are creating the most basic of building blocks — the “grammar” for the language. Their latest achievement, recently reported in the journal Science, has been to create a way of controlling and amplifying the signals sent from the genome to the cell. Endy compares this process to an old fashioned telegraph.

“If you want to send a telegraph from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the signals would get degraded along the wire,” he says. “At some point, you have to have a relay system that would detect the signals before they completely went to noise and then amplify them back up to keep sending them along their way.”

And, yes, the idea is to build a system that works across different types of cells. In the 90s, the computing world sought to create a common programming platform for building applications across disparate systems — a platform called the Java virtual machine. Endy hopes to duplicate the Java VM in the biological world.

“Java software can run on many different hardware operating system platforms. The portability comes from the Java virtual machine, which creates a common operating environment across a diversity of platforms such that the Java code is running in a consistent local environment,” he says.

“In synthetic biology, the equivalent of a Java virtual machine might be that you could create your own compartment in any type of cell, [so] your engineered DNA wouldn’t run willy-nilly. It would run in a compartment that provided a common sandbox for operating your DNA code.”

According to Endy, this notion began with a group of students from Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco a half decade ago, and he’s now calling for a commercial company to recreate Sun Microsystems’ Java vision in the biological world. It’s worth noting, however, that this vision never really came to fruition — and that Sun Microsystems is no more.

Nonetheless, this is what Endy is shooting for — right down to Sun’s embrace of open source software. The BIOFAB language will be freely available to anyone, and it will be a collaborative project.

Progress is slow — but things are picking up. At this point, the team can get cells to express up to ten genes at a time with “very high reliability.” A year ago, it took them more than 700 attempts to coax the cells to make just one. With the right programming language, he says, this should expand to about a hundred or more by the end of the decade. The goal is to make that language insensitive to the output genes so that cells will express whatever genes a user wants, much like the print function on a program works regardless of what set of characters you feed it.

What does he say to those who fear the creation of Frankencells — biological nightmares that will wreak havoc on our world? “It could go wrong. It could hurt people. It could be done irresponsibly. Assholes could misuse it. Any number of things are possible. But note that we’re not operating in a vacuum,” he says. “There’s history of good applications being developed and regulations being practical and being updated as the technology advances. We need to be vigilant as things continue to change. It’s the boring reality of progress.”

He believes this work is not only essential, but closer to reality than the world realizes. “Our entire civilization depends on biology. We need to figure out how to partner better with nature to make the things we need without destroying the environment,” Endy says. “It’s a little bit of a surprise to me that folks haven’t come off the sidelines from other communities and helped more directly and started building out this common language for programming life. It kind of matters.”

Source: Wired.com

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Pilobolus: A performance merging dance and biology (by TEDtalksDirector)

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Onion News Empire Official Trailer (by TheOnion)

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Amazing Mix at @8tracks - Violin Covers. Works great for writing inspiration.

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Differential Thoughts on Failure and Success

Failure is underrated. Literally. Most people regard failure as weakness, or lack of skill. Don't. Nurture your failures, enjoy them. It is through failure you succeed, not the other way around.

Failure is probably the greatest teacher you will ever have. Not your parents, not your high-school math teacher, not your professor at college. Failure. Avoiding failure at any cost is avoiding to learn. 

Just think back to more simpler times in your life - say, when you were learning how to ride a bicycle. It was through numerous of failures you learned how to keep equilibrium on two wheels. You fell a hundred times, but on the 101st attempt you were able the spin the wheels and keep your balance, right? Falling is not a big deal. Learning how to get up after each fall is what matters. And if you avoid falling by refusing to take risks, you will never learn how to ride a bicycle. 

To be perfectly honest here, this internal monologue is a result of a long debate with couple of close friends. The spark was lit by the psychological profile of an average over-achiever - a person, so ambitious and attached to success, that he spends his entire existence in attaining it. I don't mean to sound prejudiced or ignorant here, but every time I meet such people, I think...what a horrible life must that be. To live under the constant pressure of having to succeed and with a pathological fear of failure. 

I, on the other hand, respect failure. It's the ultimate source of wisdom. The most important skills I've attained and knowledge I've accumulated  in my entire life so far, are a result of numerous failures. And I remember my failures, and most certainly am not ashamed to admit them. 

And like the great Nobel Laureate, Samuel Beckett once said - go on failing, only next time, try to fail better. 

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Poem of the Day: If by Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!